Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant (Credits: X)

Team India suffered a huge injury blow on the very first day of the ongoing fourth Test against England at Old Trafford in Manchester. Their in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was forced to retire hurt after he copped a painful blow on his right foot.

The southpaw was looking in fine touch with the bat and was batting on 37 runs before injury cut short his stay at the crease. The incident took place in the 68th over when Rishabh Pant was facing Chris Woakes. On the fourth ball of the over, the India star decided to play a reverse sweep but ended up inside-edging the ball onto his right foot.

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The foot had an instant swelling and was bleeding too as Rishabh Pant looked in unbearable pain. He could not even walk out of the field. He had to leave the field on a golf-style buggy. He was immediately taken to the medical facility at the ground before being take to a hospital for scans.

Will Rishabh Pant bat again?

Rishabh Pant’s chances of batting again in the ongoing game look highly unlikely. He struggled to put weight on his right foot and it won’t be surprising if he does not take any further part in the Test. The BCCI delivered an update on the player after the day’s play but did not reveal the extent of the injury.

“Rishabh Pant was hit on his right foot while batting on Day 1 of the Manchester Test. He was taken for scans from the stadium. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress,” stated the release from the BCCI.

Meanwhile, England’s Liam Dawson wished the best for Pant before saying he “can’t see him playing much more part in this game”.

India batsman Sai Sudharsan, who was at the non-striker’s end when Rishabh Pant suffered the injury, described the incident too.

“Oh, he was in a lot of pain definitely. But they’ve gone for scans. We will get to know [more] overnight.”

“Obviously, he was batting really well. We will miss a batter if he doesn’t come back again. So it will definitely have consequences. But, at the same time, the batters we have batting right now and there are a few more allrounders inside, so we will try and give our best and bat long so that we negotiate that loss well,” he added.

Pant had suffered an injury in the previous Test as well. He had copped a blow on his left index finger while keeping in the first innings. Dhruv Jurel then kept the wickets for the rest of the match.